To understand both the current monetary system and various proposals for its reform, it is helpful to investigate two major debates in monetary theory: Is money best understood as a pure asset like gold or as a transferable IOU of the issuer? This debate divides theorists in the tradition of Carl Menger and others from theorists in the tradition of Keynes and others. The second issue concerns the most legitimate way for governing money. Is money best administered by a centralized entity like the state or by decentralized mechanisms like markets or communities? This issue divides theorists in the tradition of Knapp and others from theorists in the tradition of Hayek and others.